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outback wheel/tire options?

first, i'd like to say hello to everyone, as i'm new to this on-line community. and, i'm a relatively new subaru owner after driving SUVs for about 8 years.

anyhow, i just bought a used 2003 outback with the factory tire & wheels (size is p225, 60r16) which are in rough shape. a buddy of mine used to have a legacy wagon and had an extra set of steel wheels and snow tires which he is willing to sell to me. problem is that the size of the his wheels/tires is p185, 70r14.... can i put these on my outback for the winter driving season, or will the smaller tires cause a problem?

Even if the wheels did fit, that is a pretty drastic reduction in size, almost 10%. Most people try to limit tire differences from stock to something like 2%. This calculator is handy for figuring these things out:

You could consider WRX wheels which can be had pretty inexpensively and are good wheels IMHO. Note that they have a slightly different offset. But the stock WRX tires would still be too small for your OB and aren't known for being stellar in the snow.

first, i'd like to say hello to everyone, as i'm new to this on-line community. and, i'm a relatively new subaru owner after driving SUVs for about 8 years.

anyhow, i just bought a used 2003 outback with the factory tire & wheels (size is p225, 60r16) which are in rough shape. a buddy of mine used to have a legacy wagon and had an extra set of steel wheels and snow tires which he is willing to sell to me. problem is that the size of the his wheels/tires is p185, 70r14.... can i put these on my outback for the winter driving season, or will the smaller tires cause a problem?

You're looking to sell your stock OB wheels / tires which are in rough shape? You might get a few bucks from a place that sells used tires. You could try to sell them in the marketplace section here or on Nasioc.

Why not put snow tires on your existing wheels (the stock 16's), and get another newer set of wheels w/ summer or all season rubber for good weather? Swap them in the fall and spring. Or, just get good all season tires put on your existing wheels if it's just the tires that are worn and you don't feel you need dedicated snow tires.

I may have misunderstood, I didn't realize you were looking to sell your stock setup. In any case, you need to stick to at least a 16" wheel for your brakes, although there may be 15" rally wheels out there that could fit, I don't know.